


Platonic Cuddles

by Sunsetdaydreams



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Cuddles, 5+1 Fic, Angst, Cuddles, Fluff, Happy Ending, Love, M/M, Platonic Alec Lightwood & Jace Wayland, Platonic Love, Platonic Relationships, There wasn’t meant to be any angst but there is, platonic cuddles, relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:28:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23637583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sunsetdaydreams/pseuds/Sunsetdaydreams
Summary: 5+ 1 fic = five times Magnus finds Alec and Jace cuddling and one time he finds himself cuddling with Jace.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Comments: 40
Kudos: 282





	1. Chapter 1

‘What happened?’ Magnus demanded loudly as he rushed into the infirmary. 

He’d quite literally run out of the warlock meeting he’d been in the second he’d received Izzy’s fire message. Luckily he was on good terms with about eighty percent of those present so he doubted it would be held against him. And he knew Cat would stick up for him. 

Assuming she had understood his strangled explanation of “Alec” as he disappeared. Even if she hadn’t figured out what he’d garbled, she would still stand up for him but he doubted it would be necessary. The warlocks respected him and if any had a problem he would deal with them later.

He’d portaled directly over and called Izzy on his way while he ran through the institute’s meandaring halls but she hadn’t exactly managed to settle his nerves. Something about Alec being hurt. He didn’t remember anything else she’d said but he’d vehemently cursed the fact that he couldn’t portal directly into the institute's sickbay and that it seemed to be miles from the entrance.

‘Magnus, it’s fine, Alec is fine, they’re both fine.’ Izzy called in what Magnus assumed was meant to be a soothing tone. 

She’d already told him that on the phone but seeing as Alec hadn’t been able to come to the phone, he had not been soothed. But what did she mean by they were both fine? He’d thought only Alec had been hurt. He was only interested in his Alexander, while it would be a shame that others had been hurt, he wasn’t dating others, he was dating Alec. The only shadowhunter he currently cared about was Alec so why was she telling him someone was fine as well?

‘Where is he?’ If Izzy was that worried about this other shadowhunter than Magnus would see to him or her once he’d checked on Alec and not a moment sooner.

Izzy smiled and indicated over towards a bed that was near the window. 

Magnus blinked. 

A bed that quite clearly held two people. 

Two people lying very closely together on the bed. So close that from where Magnus was, it looked like they were entwined.

‘Who’s with him?’ Magnus demanded, suddenly unable to move. He was just glad his voice hadn’t wobbled.

Izzy raised an eyebrow. ‘Jace. They’re both exhausted but physically, they’re both fine.’

Magnus felt his limbs loosen and began walking over. So Jace was the mysterious other shadowhunter. Magnus should have known. It made sense but in his panic and worry he hadn’t stopped or even paused to think. Izzy wouldn’t be bothering him about someone he didn’t care about when she knew how worried he was about Alec.

As he approached he was able to recognise the telltale blackness of Alec’s hair and the blondness of Jace’s. 

‘Why are they…?’ He trailed off the closer he got. He could hear snores and he knew that Alec only snored like that when he was utterly depleted of energy. It had happened more times than he was willing to recount. It didn’t stop Magnus from scanning him with his magic to ensure that Izzy was accurate in her assessment. 

Which she was. 

But he still scanned Jace too to be certain. He knew his boyfriend and Alec would be just as worried over Jace as Magnus was being over Alec. His boyfriend who was currently holding onto his best friend as if he might lose him.

‘It was a close call. We healed them both up but they gave each other a scare.’ Izzy whispered.

Magnus nodded, biting his lip as he reached the bed the two men were on. He was trying very hard not to find the picture adorable and the only reason he was succeeding was because of the lingering worry and panic that still hadn’t completely faded.

He smiled as he stared down at the two sleeping men.

The beds were not designed for two people, especially two muscular men where one was as tall as Alec was. Alec’s feet were hanging off even though his legs were bent at the knees and curled up, his lower legs entwining with Jace’s. Their upper bodies and hips were pressed together and Jace had a tight grip on one of Alec’s arms. 

But none of it was sexual. 

From what Izzy had said and from what he could see, the contact seemed to be ninety percent reassurance the other was alive and ten percent a need to hold on to each other to avoid falling out of the bed.

A warm feeling uncurled in Magnus’ chest. This was a side of Alec that he very rarely showed and a side of Jace that he had never seen before. He knew they were parabatai, knew they loved each other, but this was the first time he was seeing actual proof of that.

Magnus shifted his glance to Izzy. Now that he could see that Alec was fine with his own eyes, he wanted answers. ‘How close a call?’

Izzy winced. ‘They were both injured but not severely. It was more a lack of blood combined with exhaustion.’

‘What on earth were they doing?’ Magnus asked, stumped. Alec hadn’t mentioned anything about any missions today but he had been expressing a desire to go out on patrol. The paperwork involved with being Head of the Institute was thoroughly overrated and Alec had been sick of the bureaucratic bullshit even though he’d known how bad it was when he’d signed up for the job.

Izzy grimaced and shrugged. ‘There hadn’t been any reports of any suspicious activity around the park. It should have been a routine patrol. The first anyone knew about it was when Alec called for backup. Only by then, they’d moved and weren’t where we thought they were.’

Magnus raised an unimpressed eyebrow. 

‘I know, but when we found them, they’d already killed all the demons but were barely standing.’

That sounded like them. Just because he was in love with Alec didn’t mean he wasn’t blind to his faults, and that of his parabatai. 

Magnus sighed watching the two snore. He really wanted to take a photo to hold it over the blond shadowhunter that he did in fact have emotions. Especially as it was his head tucked neatly into Alec’s neck with his nose pressed firmly against Alec’s adam apple. ‘How long do they have to stay here?’

Izzy shrugged. ‘They don’t, they’re fine to go. I just didn’t want to wake them.’

Magnus glanced back to the two men sleeping peacefully and thoughts of waking Alec up to portal him home instantly vanished. He’d wait until the two men woke naturally then if needs be, take them both home with him. 

It was clear that Alec was due some pampering and it seemed that Jace would be benefitting from that by default.

If it was as close a call as Izzy was saying, and she was probably downplaying it like all shadowhunters were prone to do, then there was no way the parabatai would be separating from each other tonight. Not willingly at any rate.

And there was no way that Magnus was going to discourage them from showing their emotions. He remembered the rigid and uptight Alec he had fallen in love with. And just how unhappy he had been. He’d come a long way since then.

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

  
  


‘Right.’ Magnus declared, wobbling back into the room from the kitchen clutching at seven bottles, or was it only five? He couldn’t quite remember how many he had managed to fit in his arms but it had been a long hard choice narrowing down the alcohol to what he thought the four shadowhunters in his living room would like and or appreciate. Something sweet for his sweetheart, vodka for Izzy who was hardcore to the end but always appreciated looks and pretty aesthetics, anything but tequila for Clary, and tequila for Jace.

He stopped short as a familiar snore permeated the room.

Alexander.

He instantly searched for the source, eager to see the adorable position his sweetheart had ended up in. And while he was sad not to be able to make another concoction for Alec to get that cute little nose scrunch after he’d had a sip, Magnus would not say no to cuddling up to his boyfriend. Alexander always got more affectionate and handsy with his defenses down while he slept.

He found the source of the snores and gaped, tightening his hold on the bottles. Alec was indeed fast asleep, but he was not alone on the sofa. He was pressed up against Jace who was also competing for loudest snore, and seemed to be octopussed around his boyfriend. Quite literally. He could see more of Jace than he could of his boyfriend.

Not that Clary seemed to care, or maybe she just hadn’t noticed, she was deep in conversation with Izzy who beamed upon seeing him. Or the bottles he was carrying. He honestly wasn’t sure. But with his boyfriend otherwise engaged, he’d take whatever he could get.

He set the bottles down carefully. Only managing to fumble the third bottle but he caught it before it hit the ground. Or Isabelle did. Who cared, the bottle was safe. Had he really only bought three bottles through? He must have left the rest in the kitchen.

He plopped down onto the floor next to Isabelle and Clary, not knowing why he’d been so against sitting on the floor earlier. It was his loft, he had impeccable taste in everything, including the flooring.

‘Urgh.’ Clary grimaced at the bottle of tequila. She picked it up and turned to her boyfriend. ‘Jace here’s your.. Oh.’

Well that answered that question. Clary was definitely now aware of her boyfriend using his boyfriend as a pillow. At least she’d put a stop to it. She was not the type to share.

‘I thought he was meant to be able to hold his liquor? Or was all that talk?’ Magnus asked blithely, not wanting to be the one to bring up the fact that Jace had stolen his boyfriend. He’d wait patiently for Clary to do that so he could get his Alexander back without having to do a single thing.

Clary sighed. ‘It’s been a long week. Izzy, you mind bunking with me tonight?’

Magnus stared astonished. Clary was really giving up on Jace without any fight? What about his Alexander cuddles? He was looking forward to them and had worked so hard. He’d even got dressed up and everything. Not that he hadn’t already been looking magnificent, but still, it was the thought that counted.

‘Course not!’ Izzy lit up, only swaying slightly. ‘Girls night!’

‘Hey!’ Magnus exclaimed, feeling insulted. Why was he not included in this? He may not be a girl, but he’d just lost his boyfriend too. Who else was going to wrap their big, strong, muscular arms around him while they slept? While both girls admittedly had strong muscular arms, they weren’t his Alec’s arms. For starters they didn’t have enough hair.

Izzy rolled her eyes. ‘You’re included.’

‘Seeing as this is my home. Damn right I am.’ He frowned at her, but his gaze was drawn back to the two snoring parabatai. ‘There’s no chance of me reclaiming Alexander tonight is there?’

‘Not a hope in hell.’ Izzy informed him cheerfully. Magnus glanced mournfully at the snoring pair, wincing slightly at the noise a triceratops would have trouble drowning out. Why was he sorry not to have to spend the entire night listening to that while he tried to sleep?

Clary shook her head sympathetically. ‘Not when Jace has staked his claim. Sorry Magnus.’

He’d been looking forward to having a drunk cuddly Alec all to himself, that’s why. And then Jace had to go ruin it, not that he could actually blame Jace. Alec was extremely cuddly and gave the best hugs. He had this way of making the hug safe and you feel as if you were the most important person to him and the only one he had time for.

Magnus had no idea how he did, but he made it his mission for Alec to hug him like that as much and as often as he could. And he hadn’t had one of those hugs for at least two hours, not since the others had descended his loft at any rate. Alec did not like giving those hugs when there were witnesses. Which made them all that much more special when he did get one.

He sent Jace a glare. He was stealing Magnus’ Alec hugs. The bastard. He’d get him back for this. Nobody stole Magnus’ Alec hugs, except for Jace. And Isabelle. And Max. And… what was Magnus saying again?

He turned to Isabelle, picking up one of the bottles and waving it vigorously in the air, narrowly avoiding cracking it against Clary’s skull. ‘Drink dear?’

‘Aubergine!’ Clary shouted staring at his hands as if they held the answer to every question ever asked.

‘I beg your pardon?’ Magnus asked, leaning closer to her and having to put his hands on the floor to stabilise himself.

‘The colour of your nails, I’ve just realised. They’re aubergine.’ Clary looked up at him, her eyes slightly gazed. Maybe he should cut her off, she was clearly struggling to hold her drink.

Magnus blinked and then stared down at his hand. When had he done that? This morning they’d been neutral. Huh.

Another snore reverberated throughout the room and he sighed despondentantly as he saw Alec shift in his sleep, securely holding onto Jace. Bastards. The pair of them. How dare they relegate him to the floor.

Who did they think they were? Stupid parabatai… pair. 

He was Magnus Bane. 

Warlock Extraordinaire. 

He could pull daisies out of arseholes and roses out of nostrils. Not that he would ever do something so gauche. He was so much more than that. 

He was Alec’s boyfriend.

  
  
  



	3. Chapter 3

Magnus sighed as he took a step back and looked over Izzy once more. 

He’d been working on her solidly for at least a couple of hours and he was exhausted. Cat would have been better than him, as much as he hated to admit it, she was better at healing magic than him. But she was on shift at the hospital and hadn’t answered her phone. Izzy had not been in a position to wait. And while he may not be as good as Catarina, he was still up to the task.

Izzy had been on her own but she’d done herself proud. Unfortunately she hadn’t come out of the encounter injury free. She may have killed the demons, but they had put her through the ringer first.

The blood was still there, but the wounds that had caused it were not. She was healed but would need to sleep it off. 

‘She’ll be fine.’ He said as he turned round to face his boyfriend, knowing how worried he would still be. He blinked as he realised that Alec had finally stopped pacing. Not only that but had been coaxed into a chair. And sat on. Almost. Mostly. By a very worried Jace.

They were both staring at him avidly.

He licked his lips, unsurprised at how dry they were. ‘She just needs to sleep it off.’

They continued to stare. It was slightly unnerving how they did that. 

‘She’ll be fine.’ He repeated, raising his eyebrows and doing his own stare when they both let out identical sighs and deflated before his very eyes.

‘Thanks Magnus.’ Alec said, looking a hundred years older and leant back in the chair, blinking rapidly as he stared up at the ceiling.

There was his stoic lover.

‘Thank fuck.’ Jace said eloquently.

‘Indeed.’ Magnus said, wiping his hands on the nearest available clean cloth. What he wouldn’t do for a bubble bath, a steak and a martini.

He put the cloth down, turned around and walked into a solid wall. A solid wall that wrapped its arms around him and pulled him into a familiar hug.

‘Thank you.’ Alec breathed into his ear and Magnus relaxed into his embrace.

‘You’re welcome.’ Magnus smiled, hugging his boyfriend back. Screw the bath maybe they could just stay here, like this, just for a year or so.

‘You must be exhausted, come on, let's get you home.’ Alec pulled back, slipping his hand into his.

Magnus squeezed his hand in gratitude.

‘I’ll stay here with Izzy til Simon gets here.’ Jace offered and Magnus sighed in relief. While he liked Jace and got on well with him, he could occasionally be overbearing and Magnus just needed Alec and a little bit of quiet relaxation to recover.

‘Don’t you dare portal us, I’ll get us a cab.’ Alec muttered as Magnus raised his hands about to do just that. He lowered them sheepishly as Alec tapped away on his phone. ‘Come on, it should be outside by the time we get there.’

Magnus smiled at him, happily leaning into him for support when Alec wrapped an arm around him. He allowed his boyfriend to lead him out the sick bay and through the labyrinth of corridors until they exited the institute and found the cab waiting for them as promised. There were many facets of Alec that he loved, but this protective and care taking one was one of his favourites.

He fell asleep a couple seconds after getting into the cab, waking only after they had arrived at his apartment to Alec trying to manoeuvre him out the cab.

He blinked himself awake and went to tip the driver.

‘No worries mate. You’re boyfriend paid. Good fella you’ve got yourself there. Keep a hold of that one.’

Magnus smiled wryly as the cabby gave him a half wave and shot off into the busy traffic the second Alec got the door closed. He turned to see Alec’s amused expression and a proud pleased look in his eyes. He’d obviously heard every word.

‘I happen to agree with the man, and I do plan on keeping you.’ He grinned when Alec blushed, the tips of his ears turning red.

‘Come on, let's get you to bed.’ Alec held out his hand.

Magnus grabbed hold of him and allowed him to lead him into the elevator. ‘Bath first. If you could order me in a steak that would be great though.’

‘I’ll mix you a martini as well.’ Alec offered and Magnus tried hard not to wince. While Alec was better at mixing drinks than he was at cooking, it was still a fifty-fifty success rate.

‘That would be lovely Alexander.’ Magnus sighed, but couldn’t find it in himself to protest.

The elevator arrived at his floor and he stumbled after Alec into his loft. 

‘I’ll run the bath, you get undressed.’ Alec told him, depositing him in their room.

Magnus hummed happily, Alec did know how to run a damn good bubble bath. He assumed it was Izzy’s influence but the matter had never come up.

The bath was already half full when he made his way into the bathroom, but unable to wait, he crawled in, groaning loudly as the hot water and the essential oils did their magic.

Alec turned the taps off and kissed his head. ‘I’ll go get your drink.’

Magnus nodded, sighing happily as he closed his eyes.

He blinked his eyes open and frowned when he realised the bath water was only lukewarm and there was no martini or Alec in sight. He tested all his limbs, scratching them out languorously before pulling himself out and rubbing his body down with a fluffy towel. In his bedroom he threw on some silk pajamas and headed into the main room in search of food, alcohol and his boyfriend.

The smell of perfectly seasoned and cooked steak hit his nostrils instantly and he saw his dinner set on the table with a martini next to it.

Grinning he made his way over to it. The food was still warm and the drink cold. He turned, looking around the loft for Alec as his eyes fell on the sofa.

Alec was there, fast asleep with Jace. Also asleep. And once again, entwined.

Magnus felt a smile cross his face and he turned back to his dinner. He pulled the chair out, took a sip of his martini and smiled happily. 

It was one of Alec’s successes. 

He clicked his fingers and Frank Sinatra’s dulcet tones infiltrated the loft. He sighed happily and cut into the steak.

  
  
  
  



	4. Chapter 4

  
  


‘Hey guys, my client never turned up so I figured I’d gatecrash…’ Magnus trailed off at the guilty look his boyfriend was throwing at him. His boyfriend that was somehow both stretched along the length of the sofa and cuddled up to Jace at the same time.

Magnus blinked. 

It was impressive how Alec managed that. He just wished he was the one in Jace’s place. Alec looked so comfy and relaxed. Jace was in the little spoon position which, being honest, surprised Magnus. Jace never let his vulnerable side show so it was a nice surprise to see him this relaxed around them all. He was a bit miffed that it was his in boyfriends arms, but it was still nice seeing Jace so relaxed with his guard down.

‘Magnus!’ Jace grinned at him, sending him a wide smirk and a wink. ‘Get comfy, but you're not stealing my spot.’

Magnus groaned and slumped down next to Isabelle who graciously made room for him. He’d had a long day at work and had been so relieved when his last client had bailed on their appointment. He’d been pleased to find he would be in time for movie night and had been looking forward to cuddling up with Alec during whatever film they had all decided on. He checked his watch, he was only a few minutes late, they hadn’t even put the movie on yet and Magnus doubted they’d even had time to argue it down to three. He knew just how competitive the five of them were, Simon got extremely argumentative when films became involved, so he had not been expecting to find them already settled in their chosen seats. Alec usually stayed out of those arguments, happy to watch almost anything if he hadn’t seen it before.

‘Come on Magnus, you can cuddle up to me.’ Izzy grinned at him and held an arm out. 

She had the next biggest sofa all to herself and while he was impressed that she had managed that while Clary and Simon had somehow ended up on the floor at Alec and Jace’s feat, he was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. And if he used his magic to make it softer, plumper with more cushions and a throw, well the others could just suck it. Although he did provide Clary and Simon with a few giant cushions and sneaked Alec in his favourite blanket.

He happily snuggled into Izzy’s side, she was almost as good as her brother at cuddles, almost but not quite. She was missing something, something that Alec had or did that he had never managed to narrow down or figure out exactly what it was that he did that made his hugs so special. Magnus was finding it was purely an Alec thing rather than a Lightwood thing, but he was finding that all Lightwoods gave exceptional hugs. And if he couldn’t snuggle with Alexander, then Izzy was at the top of his list. No matter what movie was chosen, he knew they would spend the entirety of it critiquing the costume departments decisions and giggling like school children.

He accidentally caught Alec’s eye watching them. He frowned at his boyfriend who was pouting at him. Not that he felt that Alec was in a position to pout, he hadn’t been the one to find his boyfriend cuddling up to someone else while they prepared to watch something.

‘What’s wrong Alexander?’

‘N-nothing.’ Alec said, a small blush covering his face.

‘Oh?’ Magnus asked innocently.

Alec glared at him and Magnus smirked. He knew just what was bugging his boyfriend and that he wouldn’t say it in front of witnesses. Not because he was embarrassed but because he still wasn’t at ease demonstrating displays of affection in front of others. But Magnus was working on that. Although Alec didn’t seem to have a problem cuddling up to Jace in front of the others, although Magnus had noticed it only happened in front of these people currently gathered who Alec felt most relaxed with, and when he was utterly exhausted.

‘So, what are we watching?’ Magnus asked, happily changing the subject as he easily distracted everyone. It seemed that while his boyfriend was getting better at displaying emotional affection, he was still struggling with the verbally talking about it. Magnus didn’t mind, he had plenty of time and Alec had already come such a long way from the man he had been.

‘Die hard.’ Izzy promptly responded garnering boos and groans from both Clary and Simon. And himself. What was with these Shadowhunters only watching action movies? And he was not basing this overview on Alec, Alec would watch most things he recommended, Jace however...

‘I can see I’m going to have to educate you guys on movie etiquette.’

‘What? What the hell is that?’ Jace demanded, throwing popcorn at him. ‘Movie etiquette? Is that actually a thing?’

Clary turned around to glare at him. ‘How the hell do you not know about movie etiquette?’

Magnus winked at Izzy when she turned to him with a quizzical look on her face. He turned back to see Alec smirking at him.

‘Christ Jace, even I know about movie etiquette.’

‘This is not fair, you’re all ganging up on me.’ Jace sulked, burrowing further into Alec. 

In response Alec wrapped an arm around him. Magnus sighed, he wasn’t jealous, he knew better, he was just envious. He knew perfectly well how comfy Alec was and that when he chose to, he gave the best hugs. Which now that he was thinking about them, he was craving one.

Clary finally took pity and laughed. ‘It is a thing, but doesn’t really apply, it's for cinemas. You know, turn your phone off, no talking during the movie, don’t ruin the experience for others, all of that.’

‘But in this instance,’ Simon cut in. ‘You’re meant to offer a selection of movies for everyone to pick, not just pick one and tell us what we’re watching.’

‘Really? That’s a thing?’

‘Yes.’

‘Oh.’ Jace nodded. ‘So, Magnus, what’s your problem with Die Hard?’

‘Nothing I like the movie, it’s a favourite Christmas movie of mine, however not something I am currently in the mood for.’ Magnus answered honestly.

‘Christmas movie?’ Jace repeated, looking at him aghast.

‘Yep. The film is set at Christmas, ergo, Christmas movie.’

‘A man after my own heart.’ Izzy sighed, snuggling closer.

‘Hey, you’re not allowed to steal my boyfriend.’ Alec said warningly, throwing his sister a glare.

Magnus raised an eyebrow and deliberately eyed Alec’s position as he lay on the sofa with his parabatai.

Izzy laughed. ‘Wouldn’t dream of it big brother. I prefer him as a brother-in-law anyway.’

Magnus choked.

  
  
  
  



	5. Chapter 5

The first time Magnus opened his eyes everything was blurry but more importantly everything hurt. He groaned and closed his eyes again.

The second time he opened his eyes he could recognise his own bedroom ceiling. He frowned, wondering how he got here, the last thing he remembered was… Shit. What was the last thing he remembered?

The third time he doesn’t hurt as much and he can see perfectly fine. And he can see his boyfriend and his parabatai sleeping soundly wedged into one chair. Magnus winced, the law of physics shouldn’t even allow that to happen. He doubted it was comfortable. 

He went to raise his hand to magic them into something more comfortable but found he couldn’t lift his arm. He felt his eyes widen as his panic increased. He stared around but he was definitely still in his bedroom, he went to lift his arm again only to get a searing pain shoot through it when he managed to move it half a centimetre.

Why on earth was he panting with exhaustion? What had happened? He had failed at moving his own damn arm. 

Maybe he needed a little more rest. 

Although why he needed rest and felt as if he’d just been fighting Mike Tyson in the ring without any magic, he had no clue. He’d close his eyes for a few moments, trying to remember what had happened. He remembered waking up the previous times. He remembered having breakfast with Alexander but was unsure of when that had happened. 

He breathed in deeply. When he reopened his eyes everything would be fine. He took a few more deep, measured and calming breaths.

The fourth time he opened his eyes was to hear Alec calling his name. He smiled and exhaled as Alec’s face swam into view. The relief poured through him. He remembered what happened last time but if Alec was here, then everything would be alright. He was safe. Alec wouldn’t let anything happen to him.

The fifth time he opened his eyes it was dark in the room. He blinked and mentally catalogued his body, his magic attempting to flare to life only to snuffle out quite quickly. 

Well that answered a lot actually. 

He must have magically drained himself. He rolled his head to the side, finding the movement a lot easier than when he’d tried to move his arm. Without thinking he rubbed the worry lines across his forehead. 

He froze. 

He was moving. And there wasn’t any pain. 

He grinned. Then froze again.

Someone was in bed with him. He listened intently and could decipher two people from their breathing patterns. Were two people in bed with him? Who the hell would be brazen enough to do that? 

He’d skin them alive when he was back up to full strength. 

Not even Ragnor or Cat would dare get into bed with him and he trusted them the most in the world. 

Alec was the only one allowed to get into his bed.

He turned his head the other way, inching his body round and preparing to either spring up or make a run for it. He wasn’t sure which or if his body would even listen to him. But he never got that far.

Instead he gaped when black inky hair came into view mixed with blond hair.

He sighed.

Alec and Jace.

Great.

Now they were cuddling in his bed. Without him. And he was too weak to even get up to capture the moment on camera.

He didn’t fancy rolling himself towards them and joining them, mainly because it wasn’t a thing they did. Him and Jace were not there yet. But he did want to have Alec wrap his arms around him. To hold him and murmur nonsense into his ear.

He pushed himself up into a sitting position, thankful to see a glass of water on his side table. He reached for it, wincing as his arm shook heavily and he needed two hands to hold onto the glass to stop it from spilling. But he managed, ever so slowly, to drink the entire glass and was rewarded with exhaustion for his efforts.

He turned back to the sleeping parabatai and stared in surprise. 

Jace wasn’t the little spoon like he normally was. Like Magnus had become accustomed to witnessing. 

This time, Alec was the little spoon. 

Magnus breathed out as he realised that this time it had been Alec who had needed the comfort. Alec who had needed the reassurance. Alec who had needed to feel someone’s arms around him. Alec who had needed to feel protected. Because he had been hurt. Because he had magically exhausted himself. 

And now that he had had a moment, he could remember the details and knew he would do it all over again. It had saved a child warlock’s life and he’d had Alec there as back up. The child had been attacked by demons and was barely hanging on to life. If he hadn’t acted, if he hadn't given as much as he had, the child would have died. 

He’d sent Ragnor and Cat fire messages requesting urgent assistance but knew he didn’t have the time to wait for them. He’d had Alec with him. He’d known he would be safe and had allowed himself to give the boy his all in his effort to save his life and it had worked.

He had a vague recollection of Ragnor turning up first, he hadn’t heard what his friend had said upon seeing the situation but could easily guess the curses he would have used. He had no recollection of Cat being there but knew she had been, he could feel the residual effects on her magic working on his body and knew he could thank her for feeling as good as he did so quickly. 

Magical exhaustion was not pretty or a pleasant experience to go through.

He wiggled himself back down into bed and closed his eyes, content in the knowledge that the next time he woke up, he could be the one holding Alexander and reassuring him.

  
  
  
  



	6. Chapter 6

Izzy hadn’t needed to call him this time. 

He’d witnessed it firsthand. 

Witnessed his boyfriend being stabbed through the heart. He’d been forced to watch the man he loved fall to his knees with a knife sticking out of his chest.

Time had not slowed down. Nor had it frozen, but he almost had. He’d stared in horror, a lump the size of a watermelon growing ever larger stuck in his throat. It felt as if his neck and heart were going to explode. There was a pain in his chest and in the short time that he’d managed to blink, Alec had already been on his knees falling to the floor.

He had no idea if Alec was aware of what was going on, if he was feeling any pain, but his eyes had locked onto his and instead of looking as if he was hurting, he looked more concerned, worried. Alec had opened his mouth to say something but blood had bubbled out. 

It had kicked Magnus into action, but he’d been surprised to find that his magic had already risen up and was responding without him even having to consciously call for it. He’d never been more thankful for his magic then he had been in that moment. In a way, it had been lucky that he had been there. He had been able to act quickly and save his life. Or rather his magic had.

‘Magnus, he’s going to be fine.’ He heard Izzy’s voice but didn’t dare move his eyes from his sleeping boyfriend. He knew Alec was going to be fine, he’d been the one to heal him. But it didn’t fill him with reassurance like it should do. He knew he was in shock.

‘Magnus, come on man.’ He felt a tug at his elbow and stumbled back, allowing Jace to lead him to a chair where he could still see Alec. He knew Alec still needed to rest before he would wake up. But every time Magnus closed his eyes, he saw Alec, on his knees, knife in his chest, blood bubbling out of his mouth, staring at him with eyes full of love and concern. He couldn’t close his eyes. He couldn’t handle seeing it one more time.

‘Here, come on Magnus.’ He heard Izzy’s voice and felt something soft dab at his cheeks under his each eye in turn. He didn’t know when Jace had turned him over to Izzy or that he was crying, but Izzy was obviously tidying up his makeup. He hadn’t even worn waterproof mascara but it didn’t seem important now. Nothing seemed important now. Alec was alive but he very almost hadn’t been. It put a lot into perspective. He’d almost lost the man he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He’d never felt that way about anyone before. But he was lucky. Alec was still alive, his heart was still beating, he was just sleeping and Magnus was just waiting for him to wake up. 

He swallowed. 

Then blinked as something cold was pushed into his hand. He let out a half chuckle, half sob when he realised that Izzy had made him a drink.

He took a sip. It was perfect, if a little lacking in the alcohol department, he preferred his drinks a tad stronger.

‘You need to replenish your liquids.’ Izzy said quietly nudging him with her shoulder as she seemed to read his mind. ‘You can have a stronger one later.’

He nodded, feeling the push of tears again at the back of his eyes. He seemed to have missed the turning point when Alec’s family started treating him like he was one of them. But here they were, with Izzy taking care of him better than he could have himself.

She took his free hand and he followed her back to the sick bay, sipping his drink so frequently it was finished by the time she gently pushed him onto the sofa at the bottom of Alec’s bed.

He blinked as he bounced slightly wondering when the hell the sofa had gotten there. He’d never noticed one before and as he craned his head around, noticing the lack of sofas around the other beds, he felt a hard muscular body sit down closely next to him and a head rest on his shoulder. The familiar smell of Jace’s shampoo filled his nostrils. 

When the hell had the smell of Jace’s shampoo become familiar to him? But it didn’t stop him from automatically wrapping his arms around Jace as they comforted each other. Jace was actually quite good at this cuddling. Not that Magnus would admit that. Ever. Not to Alec and certainly not to Jace. He would take this knowledge to the grave with him.

He smiled thankfully when Izzy appeared with a second full drink for him. Not that he had any clue when she had taken the empty one or even when he had emptied it. He groaned and closed his eyes as the strong taste of alcohol hit his tongue.

‘Thank you.’ He whispered, leaning into the kiss that she pressed against the side of his head.

‘Anytime.’ She whispered back, handing Jace a takeaway bag of fries.

He blinked at Jace while he glared back at him. 

‘What?’ Jace snarled defensively as he grabbed a handful out the bag. ‘I’m a stress eater.’

Magnus smiled at him and pulled him back into their embrace, slightly surprised when Jace just slumped against him and shoved several fries into his mouth at once.

Izzy joined them on the sofa while Jace finished off the fries in record time. Magnus sipped at his drink, the three of them watching Alec’s chest rise and fall in time to his breathing. It was hypnotic and before Magnus realised what was happening, his eyes fell closed and didn’t reopen.

Magnus blinked, feeling the space that Izzy had been in was now empty. He glanced at the bed and grinned broadly when he noticed that Alec’s eyes were open and on him. 

‘Hey, Alexander.’ He went to move and get up but froze when Jace snuffled in his sleep and nuzzled his nose into Magnus’ neck. He lowered the volume and whispered instead. ‘How are you feeling?’

‘Peachy.’ Alec groaned, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

Magnus winced. ‘He’s your parabatai Alexander, how could I not comfort him in his time of need?’

‘Uhuh.’ Alec sounded dubious and disbelieving.

‘He didn’t believe you were going to be okay.’ Magnus promptly lied.

‘Uhuh.’ Alec repeated.

Magnus glared at him.

  
  
  



End file.
